S-0182.1/91       _______________________________________________

                                 SENATE BILL 5180

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By Senators Nelson, Vognild and Sellar.

Read first time January 23, 1991.  Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.Restricting civil actions to appoint receivers to manage real property.

     AN ACT Relating to cities and towns; and adding a new section to chapter 35.80 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 35.80 RCW to read as follows:

     A city or town may authorize civil actions by private parties to seek the appointment of a receiver to manage privately owned, leased, or rented residential and multifamily real property on the grounds that the property is unfit or in violation of state or local health and safety laws.  For the purposes of this section:

     (1) Parties shall exhaust all applicable remedies provided by chapter 59.18 RCW before seeking the appointment of a receiver; and

     (2) Before appointing a receiver, the court shall make a finding based on substantial and compelling evidence that uninhabitable conditions exist in the property at issue.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.